About

Richmond Vale Academy (RVA) is a registered Non Profit No. 147 of 2002 under the Companies Act in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since 2007, more than 250 international and national students have studied at the Academy.

The Academy currently runs two programs:
1. The Climate Compliance Conference where new students join for six months at the time and take part in a 10 year project to spearhead that people in St. Vincent adapt to the challenges of Global Warming and Climate Change.

2. The Fighting Shoulder to Shoulder with The Poor Program, students join an 18 months program in cooperation with One World University. Students earn an A-certificate in "Fighting Shoulder to Should with The Poor" as Distance Learners. Students spend 6 months at Humana People to People Service in Ecuador or Belize working on a Child Aid or Farmers Club Project.

Economy

Richmond Vale Academy is financed by tuition fees, income generation activities like farming, nature and hiking center and donations. 

Partners in St. Vincent

Richmond Vale Academy works together with The Ministry of Education, Tourism and Agriculture in St. Vincent besides several local businesses, culture organizations, movements and groups of people.  

Brief History

Richmond Vale Academy was buildt in the 80's as a Vocational School for Vincentians and an experimental school for Danish youth with special needs. From the mid 80's the school activities ceased and the farm was developed. In the beginning of 2000 first attempts to re-start the Academy was done, and the Academy has been in full operation since 2007.

From The Travelling Folk High School to One World University

How it all started

A pioneering group traveled from Denmark around the world to get to know about its countries and its peoples. These travels started in the late 1960s and early 1970s out of the small country of Denmark in northern Europe.

At that time, a group of seven people, all of them from Denmark and all of them in their 20s, some of them teachers and others craftsmen and students, decided to travel around the world together. They had economized with their means and had worked as professionals, teachers and workers to be able to afford the travel.  

Their first intention was to sail the world in a freight ship - a topsail schooner or a three-masted schooner. Some of them had sailed with freight in Scandinavia and Europe for quite some time to earn the money for their plans of circum-traveling the world.

For reasons that are not illuminated here, the ship as the prime means of transport around the world was changed, and the group instead got hold of a big 40 seat bus to use as its mode of travel.

They fitted out the bus with space and facilities to read, cook, plan, discuss, sleep and whatever else constituted the every day and necessities of this special way of traveling, learning and experiencing the world at large with its many and diverse people, countries and phenomena.

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